Knockdown pallet



Jan. 18, 1955 w. w. CUSHMAN 2,699,912

KNocxDowN PALLET Filed Oct. 6, 1955 ATTORNEY KNOCKDOWN PALLET Walton W. Cushman, Webb City, Mo.

Application October 6, 1953, Serial No. 384,530

2 Claims. (Cl. 248-420) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (19 52), sec. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

My invention relates to load supporting pallets of the type extensively used in conjunction with fork-11ft trucks. 7

A primary object of the invention is to provlde a pallet formed of readily separable pallet sections or sides which may be nested or stacked for the'purpose of conserving shipping and storage space.

'A further object of the invention is to prov1de a knock-down pallet having novel and simplified means for readily detachably securing the pallet sections together in assembly, and facilitating their separation for nesting or stacking with a minimum of effort.

A further object is to provide a knock-down pallet of the 4-way type which is reversible or invertible in use, simplified and durable in construction, lightweight, and highly compact.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure'l is a perspective view of a knock-down pallet embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an elastic fastener or rivet employed for detachably securing sections of my pallet together in assembly,

Figure 4 is an enlarged central vertical longitudinal section through the rivet shown in Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a horizontal transverse section taken on line 55 of Figure 4, and,

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section through a pair of pallet sections in the nested or stacked condition after separation.

In the drawings, where for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numerals 10 and 11 designate generally companion pallet sections or sides, which are identical in construction, and preferably formed unitary from sheet metal, plastics material, or the like.

The pallet sections 10 and 11 comprise generally fiat rectangular body portions or plates 12 of a preferred thickness and area, as shown. Each plate 12 is formed to provide a plurality of spaced hollow legs or projections 13 projecting beyond one face thereof, and preferably rectangular in horizontal cross section, although not limited to this particular shape. The legs or projections 13 of each plate 12 are preferably arranged in rows, equidistantly spaced apart longitudinally and transversely of the rectangular pallet sections, and the legs 13 of each row are preferably three in number and spaced apart equidistantly longitudinally of the rows, as shown.

Each hollow leg or projection 13 opens through the outer face of the plate 12, and comprises pairs of converging or inclined side walls 14 and 15, integrally connected at corresponding ends by fiat bottom walls 16. The bottom walls 16 of the hollow legs 13 are spaced equidistantly from the plate 12 carrying the particular legs 13, and the legs 13 are all uniform in size and -United States Patent 0 shape. It is thus seen that the legs 13 of each pallet section comprise tapered cup-like projections, extending beyond one face of the fiat plate or body portion 12. The bottom Walls 16 of the hollow legs 13 are provided with openings 17, extending therethrough, and adapted to register when the bottom walls 16 are brought together in opposed contacting relation as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

I provide means for readily detachably securing the pallet sections 10 and 11 together in assembly. Such means comprises elastic deformable fastener elements or rivets 18, engageable through companion pairs of the registering openings 17 of the hollow legs 13, as shown. Each elastic rivet 18. comprises an elongated body portion formed of rubber, synthetic rubber or the like, provided at its longitudinal center with a relatively narrow annular groove 19, forming a short central reduced longitudinal shank 20 of substantially the same diameter as the openings 17. The groove 19 forms relatively wide flat opposed shoulders 21 at the opposite ends of the shank 20, and longitudinally tapering end portions 22 of the rivet are disposed upon opposite sides of the groove 19 and terminate in relatively long narrow end extensions 23, adapted to be grasped by the fingers when applying or removing the elastic rivets to or from the openings 17. The tapered portions 22 are relatively wide or thick near the longitudinal center of the elastic rivet 18, and taper uniformly longitudinally toward the reduced end extensions 23, which are preferably somewhat narrower than the central shank 20.

In use, the pallet sections 10 and 11 are placed in parallel superposed relation with the hollow legs 13 arranged innermost and having end bottom walls 16 opposed and contacting, as shown. The openings 17 will now register, and one of the rivets 18 is applied through each pair of registering openings 17. To do this, one reduced extension 23 of the rivet is passed through the registering openings 17 in either direction, and grasped by the fingers and pulled until the tapered portion 22 of the rivet passes through the registering openings 17, and the bottom walls 16 enter the annular groove 19. Since the rivet 18 is deformable and elastic, this action is rendered possible, and the contacting walls 16 will readily snap into the groove 19, and be held firmly therein by the opposed shoulders 21, with the shank portion 20 occupying and filling the openings 17. As the rivet 18 is thus applied to the pallet sections 10 and 11, the same will stretch and become deformed sufficiently to allow passage of the tapered portion 22 through the pair of registering openings 17. When the rivet is released, it will return to its normal shape shown in Figure 4, wherein it serves to firmly secure the pair of hollow legs 13 together in assembly. I prefer to provide each companion pair of legs 13 with one of the rivets 18, as shown in the drawings, although the rivets may be employed only at the four corner pairs of legs 13 and in the center pair of legs 13, if preferred.

When separating the pallet sections 10 and 11 for nesting or stacking as illustrated in Figure 6, it is merely necessary to grasp one of the extensions 23 of each rivet 18 and pull or stretch the same longitudinally, until the rivet 18 is dislodged from the registering openings 17, by deforming the tapered portion 22. When all of the rivets 18 are thus removed, the pallet sections 10 and 11 are separated and nested or stacked, as shown in Figure 6, and the hollow tapered legs 13 will now interfit telescopically or nest in the manner shown in the drawings. The arrangement affords a highly compact and space saving arrangement for the pallet sections 10 and 11 during return shipment, storage or the like, and any number of pallet sections may be nested or stacked together in the manner shown in Figure 6, with a relatively slight space between each body portion or plate 12.

Since each of my pallet sections 10 and 11 is provided with the hollow legs 13, obviously, these legs need be only half as deep as would be the case with a pallet employing one plate or side 12 having hollow legs or projections extending beyond one face thereof. This is true, since the overall height or thickness of the pallet must conform to standard requirements, based upon'the thickness of the lifting tines or forks of the industrial truck used to transport the pallet and load. With my arrangement, the plates 12 are maintained spaced apart the properstandard distance, by the use of the legs 13, which are individually onlyhalf as deep as the legs of one section pallets, such as the pallet shown in my prior Patent 2,544,657, issued March 13, 1951. This relative shortness of the hollow legs 13 renders the stacking or nesting of the pallets twice 'as compact and space saving as would be the case where longer tapered legs are employed for one section pallets, as in my prior patent above mentioned, although the overall assembled height or thickness of the present pallet is the same as that of the single section pallet in my prior patent.

It may be further seen that my pallet is a 4-way pallet which may receive the lifting forks of an industrial truck from any one of the four sides of the pallet, as found desirable, and the pallet is reversible or invertible in use, since it is identical in construction on both sides.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A four-way reversible knock-down pallet comprising a pair of separate companion pallet sections, a plurality of tapered hollow projections carried by each pallet section and extending beyond one side thereof and spaced apart uniformly in rows extending longitudinally and transversely of the pallet, said projections including end walls having central openings extending therethrough, said openings of one pallet section registering with the openings of the other pallet section when the companion pallet sections are in back to back relation with the end walls of said projections abutting, the hollow projections of the companion pallet sections then forming a corresponding number of recesses opening through opposite sides of the pallet and surrounding said registering openings, and a plurality of elastic rivets for the registering openings of the end walls and serving to detachably connect the companion pallet sections, said rivets having deformablecentral body portions larger than the registering openings and passable therethrough, the body portions of the rivets having grooves to receive the abutting end walls with portions of the deformable rivet body portions disposed upon opposite sides of the end walls in clamping engagement therewith, said rivets also including reduced elongated end extensions at opposite ends thereof and projecting longitudinally of the rivets into the recesses at the opposite sides of the pallet formed by said hollow projections and spaced from the side walls of the projections, whereby the rivets may be readily applied to or removed from the pallet sections from either side of the assembled pallet.

2. A four-way reversible knock-down pallet comprising companion pallet sections, a plurality of tapered cup-like projections carried by each pallet section and projecting upon one side thereof and spaced apart in rows extending substantially parallel to the margins of the pallet section, the projections including end walls having openings extending therethrough, the companion pallet sections being adapted for back to back contacting relation with said end walls of the projections abutting and the openings of the end walls registering, a plurality of elastic rivets for detachably connecting the pallet sections in said back to back relation and including enlarged 'body portions having grooves formed therein to receive the portions of the abutting end walls surrounding said registering openings and snugly engaging the end walls, and reduced longitudinal extensions carried by the opposite ends of said rivets and disposed centrally within the cup-shaped projections upon opposite sides of the abutting end walls, whereby the rivets are readily appliable to and removable from thel pallet sections from either side of the assembled pa et.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,270,266 Cavanagh Jan. 20, 1942 2,450,848 Wisberger Oct. 5, 1948 2,568,582 Farrar Sept. 18, 1951 2,602,619 McIntyre July 8, 1952 

